This week, I felt many feelings. It therefore felt like a good time to buy this little badge. (Yeah, you should probably get one too.)

The swirl of emotion is not surprising. It was the autumn equinox. We’re so firmly, yet so intangibly in the element of water now…at the tipping point of day and night, the point where night begins to win, and the northern hemisphere begins its descent towards cold and darkness, earth, stone, and bone.

I’ve written a little this week about that seasonal shift – here, exploring my feelings about the autumn equinox, and here, where I shared my equinox tarot reading.

Over the next six weeks, that water begins to solidify, the swirling slows and those feelings become more and more grounded. What an amazing combination of elements, of energies. Profound and real and humbling. Like The Mirror, in the Wildwood Tarot:

This journey is often taken in a state of emotional limbo as you relinquish feelings of anger and frustration. Your inner consciousness seeks to commune with the mysteries at the heart of human existence itself, rather than analyse every facet of your nature. This is a process of being drawn into an emotional, meditative state rather than a decision to withdraw for contemplation. … Trust and surrender of the will is called for.

The Wildwood Tarot

On Sunday 27th it’s some kind of full moon super moon blood moon in Aries eclipse showdown kinda thing. One of these days I won’t be at a total loss with astrology and I’ll be able to tell you what the hell that means (cos it sounds damn exciting to me.) In the meantime, thank goodness, there’s Chani Nicholas.

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Meanwhile, I hope you’ve got a good long lie in planned, cos this is a bumper edition of weekend reading!

Here’s *loads* of good stuff to read…

>> Tarot Cards That Put the ‘Act’ in Social Activism. I was excited to see Cassandra’s Queering the Tarot in this round-up, along with some other great stuff.

>> Why I Will Never Call Autumn Equinox “Mabon” Ever Again. A helpful and informative post on The Domestic Witch on the misappropriation of the Welsh name ‘Mabon’.

>> Musical Temperance: Harbour Lights. Kristen Yoneda has such generous, genuine words on the subject of ‘adulthood’, support and what we’re all really here for. I hope everyone reads this.

>> Seeing Yourself in the Tarot. Mecca Woods on the under-representation of people of colour in tarot imagery.

As a Tarot reader, I have yet to find a deck featuring people of color that really resonates with me as a black woman, which is why I’ve been clinging so heavily to my Black Cats Tarot Deck (which features cats, not people LOL).

(Also, oh my goodness, check out Nikki Minaj as Justice.)

>> Witchling in Flight. Reader SJ has a new blog. Check it out!

>> Sick and Successful. Esme Wang’s debut novel is available for pre-order. As a writer who battles with her physical and mental health almost every day, Esme’s feelings about this exciting career step are mixed and she shares them with vulnerability.

>> Are you writing? Hermia Swann is. Hurrah!

This is the question a femme elder’s mother asks her, when she’s wondering if her daughter’s relationships are well. The relationship I was in until last December was not, and I was not writing, and I certainly was not writing here, in public. But I have been writing, and I am writing now, and I will be writing here, again, so pay attention, because I have things to tell you.

(When you’ve read that brief, ‘I’m back’ post, take a moment to explore Hermia’s blog. It’s a special place.)

>> Follow Your Arrow: Blacksmith Willow Zietman on Gender Identity and Returning to her Craft. Follow Your Arrow is a series of interviews with queer-identifying entrepreneurs. This one is my favourite yet.

>> Moon phases for 2016. The Wildwood Tarot team have made this nice little printable for all your lunar date needs.

>> Not every story needs to be shared. I loved Theresa Reed’s wise words about when it’s better to keep things to yourself (and I can completely relate to the realisation that it might be better not to blog certain experiences.)

>> Unicorns of the Universe. That would be a tarot deck, created by Rebecca Shoenecker.

The decks’ creator worked hard to tame the wild, mystical Unicorn. It wasn’t easy. The Unicorns were shy and sometimes they had difficulty concentrating. But through their friendship, the Unicorns began to share their secrets. Rebecca came to know these 5 Unicorns, who agreed to work with her, granted they get some recognition.

>> How to be more interesting than a phone. When everyone around us is staring down at tiny screens, this can be a challenge…but you can start by wearing a fabulous hat.

Works a treat.

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This weekend, I’m in Scotland…again! This time Em and I are in a wee seaside apartment in the tiny town of Aberdour, t’other side of Edinburgh, for another 48 hours of hi how are you I love you oh god it’s time to go. *wrench* I have a killer cold, an especially full-on period, and autumnal manifesto and a newly-excavated-from-under-the-bed winter wardrobe to keep me cosy. Bring it on. Bring everything on. Just… yeah.

Whatever you’re up to this weekend, I hope it’s just what you need.

Love,

Beth x

 

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